Job Ready

"Knows TypeScript" is not evidence — every JavaScript developer’s resume claims it, and a recruiter or an ATS has no way to tell a real six months of strict-mode work from three days of adding : any everywhere to make red squiggles disappear. What actually reads as evidence is specific and verifiable: generics used in a real project, a codebase run under strict, a published package with its own types, a migration you did from plain JS.

• Name strict mode explicitly. "TypeScript" alone tells a reviewer nothing about rigour; "TypeScript (strict)" tells them the codebase actually enforced something.
• Show generics, not just annotations. Typed function parameters is table stakes. A generic class, a generic utility function, a constrained type parameter — that is what separates "adds types" from "designs types".
• Every bullet: action verb, what was built, the tools in parentheses, and a number where one exists — bugs caught during a migration, endpoints typed, tests added.
• Mirror the posting. If it says "generics", say generics, not "reusable typed functions". An ATS matches strings, not synonyms.
• Projects above education if there is under three years of experience. Link the repo and, for anything deployed, the live URL.

Then check it against a real posting rather than guessing: paste both into the ATS resume checker. It scores keyword coverage against the specific job, flags formatting that breaks parsers, and shows which lines a reviewer's eye actually lands on.

Before applying to anything, run the resume through this list. Every item is something an ATS or a reviewer checks in the first pass, before a single project is actually opened.

• Plain, single-column formatting — no tables, text boxes or icons. Parsers frequently drop content inside them entirely.
• A skills line grouped by category (Languages · Front-end · Back-end · Tooling), with TypeScript listed separately from JavaScript, not merged into one entry.
• At least one bullet naming strict mode, generics, or a specific utility type — proof the type system was used, not just present.
• Three linked projects: repo, and a live URL for anything deployed. A project that cannot be opened is a project a reviewer skips.
• The certificate, with its verification ID, listed once under Certifications — not buried in a projects paragraph.
• One page. No fonts, columns or graphics an ATS parser was not built to read.

One project that actually demonstrates TypeScript's value beats five that only happen to be written in it. "Actually demonstrates" means: generics used where they earn their keep, strict mode on from the start, and a reviewer can see the types doing real work — catching a bug, modelling a real shape — not just decorating a JavaScript project with annotations after the fact.

1. 1
   A typed REST API

   Express or Fastify with request and response types defined once and reused, a typed database layer (Prisma or a hand-typed query layer), and a validation library (zod) at the boundary where untrusted input actually enters. Deployed, with a README showing the request/response types alongside the endpoints. Shows: Module 13’s generics, Module 14’s discriminated unions for error responses, strict mode end to end.

2. 2
   A typed React app with real state

   A small but real app — not a to-do list — with typed props, a discriminated union modelling loading/success/error UI state (Module 14), and at least one generic component (a typed list, a typed form field) reused for more than one data shape. Deployed, with the repo showing strict: true in tsconfig from the first commit.

3. 3
   A published npm package with its own .d.ts

   A small utility actually used — a typed event emitter, a generic retry wrapper, a small typed state machine — published to npm with generated types, a README, tests, and semantic versioning. This is the strongest signal of the three: it proves types were designed for strangers to consume, not just for a private project's own convenience.

Most "JavaScript" postings now mean TypeScript in practice — the default for a new React, Node or full-stack role at any company with more than a handful of engineers. Read the posting's tools list as the interview syllabus, and map it back to the module that actually covers it.

• Read the verbs. "Maintain", "migrate" → an existing codebase, and Module 14’s migration walkthrough is exactly the interview. "Design", "own" → architecture questions from Module 15’s senior tier.
• "Strict TypeScript required" in a posting is a real filter — a portfolio project without strict: true will not survive a technical screen that asks about it.
• TypeScript fluency is one of the few skills that reliably moves salary bands on its own, independent of which framework sits on top of it — it signals a codebase that intends to be maintained, not just shipped.

The job board lists TypeScript, React and Node roles with the tools each one names, so a posting can be matched against this table before applying. Set up an alert for the stack being targeted.

The exam draws 25 questions from a bank across Modules 00–13, 35 minutes, 70% to pass. The questions are phrased the way an interviewer actually phrases them, and the wrong answers are the exact misconceptions this handbook warned about — confusing any with unknown, forgetting generics are erased, mixing up Exclude and Extract. Pass it and a SolutionGigs TypeScript Programming certificate is issued with a name, score, date and a verifiable ID.

1. 1
   Check the ticks

   The handbook landing page shows every lesson completed so far. Anything unticked in Modules 00–13 is a question that might be missed — read it before sitting the exam.

2. 2
   Sit the exam

   Sign in with Google so the certificate carries the right name. It can be retaken; the paper is drawn fresh each time from the bank.

3. 3
   Put the certificate where it counts

   LinkedIn → Licenses & certifications, with the ID. Resume → Certifications, one line, per the checklist earlier in this module. GitHub profile README → a badge line. Recruiters search for "TypeScript certificate"; the ID is what lets them verify it.

4. 4
   Then the funnel

   ATS checker against a real posting → fix the gaps it finds → job board → apply with the portfolio URL in the first line of the application.